Although the new Google TV Streamer is significantly more competent than the Chromecast with Google TV it replaces, Google has verified that you can still increase its storage via an external drive.
By all accounts, the Google TV Streamer is an expensive streaming gadget. Its specifications are far stronger, with 32GB of inbuilt storage, a superior CPU, and 4GB of RAM. That’s a significant improvement over the Chromecast’s meager 8GB, which proved insufficient upon its launch four years ago, and even more so in 2024.
However, Google’s product is also going into an area where users have higher standards and are beginning to include people who want to use the set-top box for purposes more than just streaming movies.
Because of this, not everyone may find the 32GB of inbuilt storage to be sufficient.
But you can’t use the device itself to expand that. The Google TV Streamer, in contrast to an Nvidia Shield TV, features just two functional ports: an Ethernet port and a USB-C port used for power. However, you may still increase the Google TV Streamer’s storage by using the latter.
Google told 9to5Google that the Google TV Streamer may indeed use USB-C for external storage as well as power, just like the Chromecast. You can increase the amount of storage that the Streamer can access by plugging in an external flash drive or other type of external storage by using a dongle with extra USB ports. Although it’s not always the easiest method, you may access media from other devices with the aid of Google TV apps. Additionally, external peripherals with a USB-C dongle connected ought to function, including mouse and game controllers.
Although it shouldn’t come as a big surprise, we’re happy to hear that. Since Nvidia hasn’t released an update for the Shield TV in almost five years, many users who are long overdue for an upgrade may find that the Google TV Streamer combined with a USB-C dongle fills the void.